Kopf and Buddie Keep Rolling in 2011
Category: npaa
Apr 4th, 2011 by OutdoorsFIRST
Modified Apr 4th, 2011 at 12:00 AM
The Crown Battery, Sharpnack Chevrolet, Buick and Pontiac Lake Erie Walleye Trail (LEWT) held the first event of 2011 on Saturday April 2nd at Fenwick Marina. The teams found a tough bite with cold water temps for the season opening LEWT Happy Hooker tournament.
Returning team of the year continued to roll by taking the first event of 2011. Ryan Buddie of Lakewood and Jason Kopf of Avon Lake brought 37.95 lbs to the scales to take the top spot. Finishing second was Scott Bogen of Port Clinton and Mark Bogen of Lebanon with 35.94 lbs. Long time LEWT anglers Charlie Robinson of Perrysburg and Mike Zaborski of Sheffield Lake were able to bring 32.21 lbs to the scales which was good for 3rd place. Rounding out the top five were Rob Cline of Nova and Dennis Kitchen of Ashland with 16.91 lbs and Joe and Mary Whitten of Toledo with 16.48 lbs.
Robinson and Zaborski took the Medina Plating Early Bird award as the top finishing team that signed up to fish all 4 LEWT events during the Early Bird sign up. Cline and Kitchen took the Sharpnack Chevrolet- Buick owner’s group contingency award. All anglers that have purchased a vehicle from Sharpnack in Willard are eligible for this contingency award at every event the WBSA is holding in 2011.
The top spot in the chase for the big fish money went to Mike Robertson of Potsdam and Mike Tobias of Covington. They brought in a trophy walleye weighing 11.38 lbs. Finishing just behind them with a 11.34 lb fish was David Jenco of Brownsville PA and Jim Gwynn of Bentleyville.
The teams brought a total of 87 fish to the scales that averaged 4.6 lbs. The top 3 teams all caught their fish trolling Reef Runners and other stick baits in the D and E can area. Pink Lemonade was popular and most teams fished between 1 and 1.3 MPH. Other top teams jig fished in the Cone Reef area targeting 23-24 foot of water.
The WBSA is a Social based Club for fishermen and women that fish in the Western & Central Basin of Lake Erie and its tributaries. Membership is open to all fisher people no matter what their location. Our goal is to present information in a manner that will help sustain and improve fishing in one of the greatest inland sport fisheries in the world. Scientific information, fishing techniques, locations and presentations are presented at our meetings by expert and knowledgeable speakers and tournament anglers in our group. These anglers are very open with techniques and methods and will help any member that is trying to learn new methods.